Trends in Atomic and Molecular Physics, 1999

Contemporary research in atomic and molecular physics concerns itself with studies of interactions of electron, positron, photons, and ions with atoms, molecules, and clusters; interactions of intense ultrashort laser interaction with atoms, molecules, and solids; laser assisted atomic collisions, optical, and magnetic traps of neutral atoms to produce ultracold and dense samples; high resolution atomic spectroscopy and experiments by using synchrotron radiation sources and ion storage rings. In recent years, important advances have been made in the experimental as well as theoretical understanding of atomic and molecular physics. The advances in atomic and molecu­ lar physics have helped us to understand many other fields, like astrophyics, atmo­ spheric physics, environmental science, laser physics, surface physics, computational physics, photonics, and electronics. XII National Conference on Atomic and Molecular Physics was held at the Physics Department, M. 1. S. University, Udaipur from 29th Dec. 1998 to 2ndJan. 1999 under the auspices of the Indian Society of Atomic and Molecular Physics. This volume is an outcome of the contributions from the invited speakers at the conference. The volume contains 24 articles contributed by the distinguished scientists in the field. The contrib­ utors have covered a wide range of topics in the field in which current research is being done. This also reflects the trend of research in this field in Indian universities and research institutes. We are grateful to the national programme committee, national, and local organiz­ ing committees, and members of the Physics Department and Computer Centre, M. 1.

1. Intense, Ultrashort, Laser-Solid Interactions; S. Banerjee , G. Ravindra Kumar, L. Tribedi. 2. Intense-field many-body S-matrix theory of atomic and molecular processes in femtosecond laser pulses; F.H.M. Faisal, A. Becker, J. Muth-Böhm. 3. Structure and properties of atomic clusters; S. Mukherjee. 4. Inner shell ionization processes; C.T. Whelan. 5. Electron impact ionisation: A progress report; H. Klar. 6. Electron impact ionisation of atoms and molecules; S.P. Khare, S. Tomar. 7. Total ionisation cross sections for electron scattering from atomic and molecular targets using quantum mechanical semi-empirical approach from threshold to 400 eV; K.L. Baluja. 8. Radiative electron capture and the photoionization of hydrogen-like ions; J. Eichler. 9. Electron excitation of autoionizing states in alkalis; R. Srivastava. 10. Depopulation of Low-Rydberg atoms: A semi-classical study; A. Kumar. 11. Chemical binding and electron correlation effect studied by inelastic x-ray and high energy electron spectroscopy; A.N. Tripathi. 12. Quantum optical resonance; S. Mathur, U. N. Upadhyaya. 13. Collision physics as a tool for environmental physics; N.J. Mason, S.K. Pathak, J M. Gingel, N.C. Jones. 14. Confined atoms: A new path towards controlled orbital collapse; J.-P. Connerade, P. Anantha Lakshmi,V.K. Dolmatov. 15. Ionization of atoms under heavy particle impact; S.C. Mukherjee. 16. Classical and quantum mechanical investigations on charge transfer in heavy ion-atom interactions; C.R.Mandal. 17. Low energy electron emission in fast ion-atom collisions; L.C. Tribedi. 18. Neutral atom traps for Bose-Einstein condensation; B.N. Jagatap, A.P. Marathe, K.G. Mianohar, R.C. Sethi, S A. Ahmad. 19. Correlation and photoionization: retrospect and prospect; S.N. Tiwary. 20. Low energy photoionization in the Ar isoelectronic sequence: Complex effects of Z; H.S. Chakraborty, P.C. Deshmukh, S.T. Manson. 21. Z-Dependence of photoabsorption properties in isoelectronic sequences; P.C. Deshmukh, H.S. Chakraborty, E.W.B. Dias, S.T. Manson. 22. Multiphoton and multistep laser ionisation spectroscopy of atoms; S.A. Ahmad, S.G. Nakhate. 23. Radiative lifetime measurements and study of perturbed electronic states of NO2; K.P. Subramanian, V. Sivakumaran, V. Kumar. 24. Electron exchange model potential: Application to positronium scattering from atoms and molecules; P.K. Biswas. Indian Society for Atomic and Molecular Physics.Index.